The Christmas Eve Eve Post

 Gingerbread house making with Aunt Abbey

I am on vacation with my family in Michigan. Sadly, there is no snow, but it is still good to be home. Jack is desperately waiting for some snow. Since I am out and about, I thought I would do just a simple post about Christmas and my traditions. I linked up with Mrs.B for this fun little Christmas list.


 I am knee deep in sweet potatoes and about to embark on some cookies, so I will leave you with this.


 Eggnog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate, or better yet, hot chocolate made with coffee instead of milk.


Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? I wrap presents. You will have to ask Santa.

 Colored lights on tree/house or white? I love blue for the tree and white for the house. Husband likes white everything. Our tree is fake and white.


Do you hang mistletoe? I wish I had some to hang!


When do you put your decorations up? Just after Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite holiday dish? Ham with cheesy potatoes and homemade lady finger rolls.

 Favorite holiday memory as a child? Going to Grandma's house on the river.

 When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Never believed in Santa, just liked to watch the movies.

 Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Just one before bed.


How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Well, we have a fake with white lights. I have all my old ornaments and the kid's ornaments on it. Kinda rustic but fun.


Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it. I only really get it when I am Michigan, so love it. (Right now there is NO snow and I am sad.)


Can you ice skate? I can, but I don't get to do it very often.


Do you remember your favorite gift? I am sure some type of clothes or something.


What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Being with family, celebrating Jesus' birth,eating loads of food...

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Frosted sugar cookies

What is your favorite holiday tradition? Going to Grandma's house or slowly opening the gifts one at a time.

What tops your tree? A little gold star. We need something more substantial next year!




 Which do you prefer: giving or receiving?  I love to give gifts. I love to pick out just the right thing. I also like to get them :)

Candy canes: yuck or yummy? They are fine.

Favorite Christmas show? It's a Wonderful Life

Saddest Christmas song? The horrible one with the kid buying his dying mom shoes.


What is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night and than Carol of the Bells.
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Ok. So what are some of YOUR favorites?

It is Christmas Eve Eve!

Tis the season...

We had a great weekend. We had friends over for a little Christmas party.

I baked my Friday night away. (I made marshmallows from scratch and cake balls!)

I even got dressed up with a long flowy skirt and bright berry lipstick. Lipstick is a big deal around here. My hubby hates it, so I only wear it on certain occasions. It is a real bummer. I feel like lipstick takes me from "Oh! Look at that teenage mom" to " Well, she had her kids young".

But I didn't take a single picture.

The only pictures that I got was of a running toddler with a stolen santa hat.

He looked extra handsome in a one piece knit tuxedo. We like to keep it comfy and classy around here.

But, I didn't get a good picture. Cause he runs away from my camera.

Cause he is 16 months and runs all day and all night long.

Especially when he has stolen contraband.

(Working the Wii. He stole the remote. Surprised? No.)

Did you do anything fun last weekend?

This weekend we drive 17 hours straight in the car with the boys.

Yikes.

Saturday Date

I went on a date this Saturday. I went with the handsome little guy.

We dress up just a bit and left Daddy and brother to man for themselves while we took off for the afternoon.

 First stop. Starbucks.

Coffee for me, chocolate milk with a cookie for him.

It was super crowded and we had to eat outside.

Someone thought it was funny when I tried to take his picture while driving.

My aim was a bit off.

We went to the Aquarium, but not to see the fishies this time.

We said hello to the harbor seals before heading inside.

While walking in the building Jack was telling me all of the ocean creatures pictured on the wall. He asked me what the last creature was. I told him that he knew what it was, it was a turtle!

His response, " No, Mom. It is a leatherback sea turtle."

 Oh. My mistake.

Instead of seeing all the "fishies", we went and saw The Polar Express in 3D at the IMAX with a few of his little friends and their mommies.

It was so much fun! The boys (ages 3-4 yrs old) did so great! Only one got scared and had to leave. It was pretty intense on that big screen and in 3D and quite loud.

They sat still for the most part for the entire movie, which is a feat in itself. They wanted to be done after the Santa Claus scene. I guess the moral conclusion was not as interesting to them.

It was a really great date.

I will totally give this guy a second date.

He's a keeper.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Babies in a suit. Always awesome.

~Awkward~
1. The amount of sweet potato casserole that Ryan and I consumed. We are talking in the pounds here people. Hands down, the most amazing sweet potato casserole known to man kind. So, it was worth it.

2. Having no one come to our Thanksgiving who said they would...leaving us with pounds of pie and sweet potato casserole. I think Ryan was secretly happy to not share his pie...or get dressed.

3. Watching the Lions' lose. On Thanksgiving. Again.

4. Colin eating old oatmeal out of the trash. Again.

5. Socially awkward editors.

6.  Walking by Jack's room at 9:50pm and he is just sitting in his Lighting McQueen folding chair wide awake.

Baby with a Nutella sandwich. Awkward...since this is after one bite.

~Awesome~
1. Having a Thanksgiving "picnic" with just our little family.

2. Getting ALL of the black friday deals online that crazy people lined up on the streets for. In my pjs, sipping fresh, hot coffee and just clicking. Seriously people, I got ALL of Best Buy's deals online Thanksgiving AM while the boys slept.

3. Using Ebates while shopping online. SO, not only did I score some great deals, but I made some money.

4. Jack doing the moves to Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred. His push-ups look like booty shakes!

5. Colin's nap march. Every time he wakes up from his nap, I have to pick up his dog, his blanket and them him, in that order. He than will squirm to get down, grab blanket and dog and march down the hallway. Cute.

6. Anthropologie had first time ever 50% off all sale items on Black Friday. If you are getting an awesome gift from me, I probably bought it at Anthropologie and I got it for a steal. (Pretend that you don't know that and be impressed.)

7. Colin give his Dog a little bit of his bottle. It's the cutest, minus the slightly milky stuffed Dog.

 

My little Orangutan. Awesome.

Jack, Teddy and Husband Orangutan. Awkward.

As always, this is sponsored by the Daybook.